People Under The Stairs Album: “Question in the Form of an Answer”

i have to say, being in my late 20's, it is really hard to find any good hip-hop that gives you the feeling of chillen and being back in high school, or just good beats and flows to listen to and laugh along with (like the 'super mario 2' reference), but 'question in the form of an answer' is the solution to this problem. thes love and dub put together some of the best sounds available in the genre, sampling every single sound on the recording from some obscure records. (no drum machines are used at all.) they seem to be feeling the cats that don't wanna hear about bling-bling and escalades, and they deliver great rhymes that even suburban white dudes (like myself) can relate to and get into. i love both of their styles of flow and the jazz-funk vibe that almost all of the tracks seem to retain. swearing and cussing is not overt and is done in quite the same way that it is used when you are hanging out and talking with your friends. i highly recommend this disc, along with all the other p. sounds, if you liked e.p.m.d. and a tribe called quest, but can't stand nelly or eminem or 50 cent. the peeps are the real deal, just 2 b-boys making good old hip-hop.

Although I had my doubts that, in their own words, Thes One and Double K really were "the hardest working crew in showbiz", they're at least fulfilling some of this claim by releasing this, their second album in a year and a half. And despite the relatively short gestation period (for a hip-hop album at least) there is evidence that they've not just matched, but at times exceeded, the quality of their debut album, "The Next Step". Some of the immediate, jazzy accessibility of "The Next Step"'s stand-out tracks - Mid-City Fiesta, San Francisco Knights - is missing, but their trademark love of the funk is still present in abundance. Added to a growing lyrical confidence and a willingness to try something different (the opening gambit of "Scarborough Fair" being indicative of the musical inventiveness that characterises this album), the whole package of "Questions..." is, in my opinion, superior to "The Next Step". Oh, and Suite For Creeper is insanely brilliant - a hip-hop SWAT team, spitting rhymes from the waist and blowing the whole place up with lyrical grenades.

about a week ago i came across this album and it was the first time that i had heard of these guys. i was amazed by everthing on this album. usually i am preffereably into the new york scene of hip-hop but i have been recently very into hyroglyphics and pharcydeand a few other west cost emcees. P.U.T.S. sound somewhat similar to those groups but i have to say they are by far the best thing out of the west coast that i have ever heard. i havent had this for a week and i have already ordered two of there other albums. IF you love real hip-hop and hate nelly, dipset, puff daddy etc. u will love this album 2

-chris KRS-TWO

These guys are better than the old school Emcees. This album is the edifice of everything good in Hip Hop. I'm glad these guys could stay real and not produce brain dead MTV Rap. This should go in the Hip Hop Hall of Fame.

Tracks like "E Business" and The Cat bring the old school style like nothing of today. Preemo album I say.

2000 has been a good year for hip-hop. Many good albums have been released including releases from Common, Slum Village, Zion I, Talib Kweli, Quasimoto, and Blackalicious to name a few. However, I would have to rate Question in the Form of an Answer as album of the year. Thes One and Double K are great together. Amazing lyrics, excellent production, and a wide variety of sounds make this album exceptional. You must buy this album if you love hip-hop.